


The Interactive Introverts and I

by charlottek7k7



Category: Phandom, Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Angst, But whatever, Drinking, F/M, Fluff, Fluffy as hecc, It's so damn out of date, No romance 'till chapter 9, Swearing, because I wrote this like a year ago, but it's cute friendship until then, but the phandom doesn't like Y/N
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-05
Updated: 2018-09-05
Packaged: 2019-07-07 10:02:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15906051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charlottek7k7/pseuds/charlottek7k7
Summary: Y/N has been friends with the famous YouTubers Dan and Phil for what seems like forever. But can a disapproving family, a chaotic New Year’s Eve party and some angry Phangirls get in the way of her bond with the boys? Or strengthen it?





	1. Mario Kart and Chill

When I was twelve, my eighteen year old brother Tom was friends with a boy named Philip Lester. Phil would often come over to our house, and he was really nice. He gave me hugs all the time, and he became like my second brother.

Even after my brother stopped talking to him, Phil would still talk to me. When he was nineteen, he started a YouTube channel called AmazingPhil. I watched all of his videos all the time, and never grew tired of them. He was really funny to watch. And if I had questions about it, I would call Phil up and ask him. We never lost contact with each other.

Eventually, after about three and a half years, when Phil was twenty two, he started collaborating with an eighteen year old boy named Daniel Howell. At first, I was unsure about him, but two years later, when I was nineteen, I visited Phil when Dan had moved in with him, and I met him. Dan was actually really nice and funny, and we became friends instantly.

Now, I'm twenty two, Dan is twenty six and Phil is thirty. I visit their flat almost daily because we're such good friends. They have even given me a spare key to their flat. Their friend Louise says she's their mum and I'm their second mum, meaning we keep them out of trouble, but to be honest, I'm more of their sister, meaning I help them do mischievous things and make it look like they didn't do anything.

My name is Y/N. I've been friends with Dan Howell and Phil Lester for what seems like forever.

 

I'm standing at their door, fishing through my jean pocket for the spare key that the boys gave me. I eventually find it and unlock the door. Dan and Phil are both nowhere to be seen, which isn't a surprise. They spend most of their time in their rooms, editing videos, watching videos. Dan sometimes reads fanfiction and looks at fanart. I decide to check his room first. He's lying on his bed, computer on his lap while he lies in his browsing position. His hair is curly and I'm still not used to it. He only posted the video that announced that he rebranded a few months ago, and I'm still surprised. But I won't lie, his hobbit hair is quite attractive, or what the Danosaurs and Phangirls call it, cute.

“Phil, I can hear your breathing—” he says and looks up. He's surprised to see me staring at him, but he smiles. “Y/N!” He stands up and, putting his lap top down beside him, gives me a big, tight hug. I've always loved Dan’s hugs. They're always tight and protective, like a shield or shelter. He makes me feel like nothing will hurt me. Phil's hugs, however, are also lovely. But they're different. They're neither protective nor shielding. They're more healing, like he'll be there for me after I've gone through something. I love both of their hugs, but Dan's are my favorite.

I pull away from Dan and grin, straightening my top. “You promised me a rematch at Mario Kart so I can kick your rear end.” I punch him in the shoulder.

He and I race to the gaming room and he signs into the Nintendo Switch. I play as my Mii, which he calls boring. It looks like me. Shoulder length, H/C coloured hair, E/C eyes and a F/C shirt. Dan plays as Inkling Girl, and we battle. I end up winning again and Dan groans.

“It's okay, Dan,” I say, grinning, as I pat his shoulder. “Everyone loses sometimes. Now let's go browse the internet in your room, on your bed, while eating crisps, yeah?”

We end up doing just that, but I've stolen Dan’s computer and am scrolling through Tumblr while he uses his phone.

“Dan, look at this utterly adorable GIF of you and Phil at TATINOF,” I say, grinning and turning the computer to him. It's from the YouTube Red recording, where Phil has to do an impression of Dan, and just recreates the introduction of ‘Hello Internet’. I've seen the recording and so many edits and GIFs from it, but I was unable to see the performance live.

The thing is, Dan and Phil invited me to tour with them. Well, Dan did. Phil already knew why I couldn't, and the look of disappointment on Dan's face when I told him I couldn't was almost unbearable. I had University and couldn't skip a single day of it. I offered to see their show in London, but just the week before the show, my brother Tom was biking with his girlfriend—now wife—and he got hit by a car. I had to stay at the hospital that night and couldn't see the show. But every night other than around that week, I would Skype Dan and Phil. They gave me a tour of their tour bus with Skype and told me about all of the amazing things they had seen while traveling North America.

One night, I was talking to Dan on Skype while they were in what I think was Minnesota. Phil had already gone to bed from being too tired. At one point, I somehow started crying, but quietly enough that Dan couldn't hear. My lights were dim enough that he shouldn't have been able to see. I missed Dan and I missed Phil, and it was the first time I had talked to them in over a week since I had had to spend time with Tom at the hospital. I was stressed out about that and homework, and I always was at school. It was so hard to talk to Dan and Phil since they were almost my only friends, and they would be gone for a long time. But I ended up being fine.

“I'm sad that you couldn't see us perform,” Dan says, peering at the GIF, visibly cringing as Phil does the hand motions to mimic Dan's first YouTube video. “It was fun, but it would have been a lot more fun if you had come with us.”

“I know,” I say, hands in my lap. I knew it a long time ago. “It would have been fun. But I had to finish University.”

Dan laughed nervously. “But you've finished Uni now. You can come watch Interactive Introverts next year. Maybe we can get them to give you a free front row seat? Or a backstage pass? A backstage pass won't be hard for us to get you.”  

He's trying too hard. We're just friends, nothing special. He doesn't have to give me a two hundred dollar seat for free. “Dan, that's unreasonable,” I tell him, laughing. “I'll buy myself a seat. I'll watch you and Phil have your fun.” His face falls slightly. “Dan, I promise I'll come. It'll be fine.”

We hear footsteps outside of the room and the door opens, revealing Phil in his Nyan Cat shirt. He sees me and waves.

“Hi Y/N,” he says, a grin plastered across his face like always. One amazing thing about him is that almost nothing can bring Phil down. Even when he's down, he's good at thinking of bringing other people's happiness at the same time because it makes him happy when others are happy. “Do you want to stay over for dinner and a movie?” I nod eagerly.

“Of course.”


	2. Sleepy Times And Goodbyes

Dan makes us a delicious stir fry and we eat it while watching Gotham. The three of us are on the couch, empty plates on the coffee table. Dan is on my right and Phil is on my left. If I wanted, I could hug them both at once, but I'm too tired and too weak. I feel myself nodding off and the room goes dark.

I wake up curled in Dan's bed. The black, grey and white checkered covers are pulled over my shoulder, and I look around the room for Dan. He is sitting at his computer, doing what seems like editing a video. I groggily stand up and, keeping Dan's blankets draped over my shoulders like a cape, I walk over to him.

“What time is it?” I ask him and he turns.

“Five forty-three,” Dan says, running a hand through his fringe. He's tired even though it's barely even night yet.

“Oh, I have to go soon,” I say, biting my lip. Dan tilts his head at me curiously, asking why. I usually stay at their house until late at night. Sometimes I even sleep over. But I can't tonight. “I forgot to tell you. I'm going to visit my brother’s family. My mum will be there. I'll be gone for a week and a half, but I can Skype you and Phil if you want.”

Dan looks sad. “Yeah, I'll Skype you. Tell Tom I said hi, yeah? Let me walk you to the door.”

“Thanks,” I say, leaving the room. He and I go to the lounge. Phil is there, and I tell him goodbye as I slip on my shoes, giving both boys a last hug.

“See you when you come back, yeah?” Phil asks, pulling me tight against his chest. I hug him back and nod. I hated it when they left me to go on their tour. I didn't hate them for it, but I missed them. I remember the day they left. I was there, watching as their tour bus departed. Now it's my turn to leave them, and I still am going to miss them. I already feel that pit in my stomach. I'm glad I'll get to Skype them.

“Do you want us to meet you at the airport when you come back?” Dan asks me, pulling me into an even tighter hug.

“No, it's fine ,” I say. “See you later.”

Then I go.

I'm going to the airport in the morning. I have to go to sleep early so that I can wake up early to take a cab to catch the flight to St Paul, Minnesota at five thirty in the morning. I'll see my brother for the first time in half of a year, since he moved to the United States of America half a year ago with his wife, Tami, and their six year old daughter Bethany. Mum will be there, too, to celebrate Christmas. Dad is somewhere. Who knows where, though. I haven't seen him since I was twelve.

I'll return home and be able to celebrate New Year's with Dan and Phil. I know that they're having a party the night of New Year's eve. All of their YouTube friends will be there, and I insisted on staying home, but eventually, Dan convinced me to go. Louise will be there at least. She's a great friend.

I'm home and I realize how much I'll miss Dan and Phil. This is going to be a long week and a half away from them, isn't it?


	3. Sad Songs and Skype

“Y/N, you must be lonely without a boyfriend or any friends at all,” Mum says, dumping a pile of mashed potatoes onto my plate. She makes the best mashed potatoes in the world. Across the table, Bethany, my six year old niece, stabs her mashed potatoes with her spoon. 

“Mum, I'm not lonely,” I snap back. “I have friends. Dan and—”

“He doesn't even have a job, honey,” Mum interrupts, not looking at me. Meanwhile, my sister in law Tami scolds Bethany for playing with her food. Tom, meanwhile, calmly eats his food. “Now eat, Y/N. You haven't touched your mashed potatoes, and you love my mashed potatoes.”

“YouTube counts as a job, Mum.” I twirl my spoon in the mashed potatoes. Not eating my mashed potatoes, you could say, is a silent protest of some sort in our household. “Dan and Phil make money off of their videos. They've gone on a world tour and have published two books.”

“It's not a proper job,” Mum says. “You need real friends, anyway. These two boys are just weird. Phil has been since he was a kid. I don't know  that Dan boy, though. What do you even like about them?”

“Mum, stop.” This is Tom saying this. “We're here to have civilized conversation, not fight. It's Christmas eve.”

We continue to eat in silence, the only sound is Bethany asking her mother what kind of cookies is Santa's favourite. It’s really awkward now, but Mum doesn't look sorry while she eats her food. She looks pissed. Extremely pissed. I do what know what she's angry about. All I was doing was defending my friends, and I know words a fact that both Dan and Phil would do the same, not that their mothers would criticize me. They're too nice.

After dinner, I head straight to the guest room where I sleep. All I want to do is talk to Dan and Phil through Skype right now, but Phil is visiting his own mum, and Dan should probably be asleep. Although it’s about nine here in Minnesota, it’s three in the morning for Dan. I start crying silent tears. My mum is a good mum, but she doesn't understand that Dan and Phil are my friends. She doesn't understand how much they've benefited my life. I cry because I'm angry at her, and I cry because neither Dan nor Phil is here to comfort with their protective, healing hugs. Instead, I take out my computer and start watching Dan and Phil Gamingmas videos. 

Eventually, I find myself listening to music on YouTube, still crying. I listen to Sad Song by We The Kings, multiple songs by the band Set It Off, and so many other songs. I don't know why these songs. I like these songs, and I like music. I find myself singing along with the songs, and burst into tears when he sings  “I hate your phone calls / in the middle of the day / ‘cause all it does is just remind me that my baby is so far away” in the Antonette X Zero Alias remix of I Hate Love by Claude Kelly

As if on cue, my computer dings, announcing an incoming video call from Dan’s Skype. Over excited, I press accept. The screen displays Dan’s smiling face. His eyes are slightly puffy as if he's been crying, or more likely staying up until three in the morning. His hobbit hair is rather curly and he's wearing his camouflage shirt, covering his hands up to his fingers. He looks cozy, and his smile is so big that his dimples are showing.

“Hey, beautiful,” I tease, wiping the tears from my face. “Merry Christmas to you.”

“Hey, gorgeous,” he replies. His facial expression grows worried suddenly as he leans in to get a better look at the screen. “Are you crying? What happened? Do you need something?”

“No Dan, it’s fine,” I say, sniffing and rubbing my tear-streaked cheeks and puffy eyes. “You must be really lonely with me gone. Now you know how I felt during TATINOF, except you have Phil.”

This makes Dan laugh, but he knows I'm changing the subject. He sure as heck is not convinced that I'm fine like I said. I can see it on his face. The worry hasn't left at all, and his face morphs from joyous to serious. 

“Why are you crying, Y/N?” His face is the most stern I've seen in a long time, and it's slightly intimidating. I sniffle again and look down at my fidgeting fingers.

“My mum says that I need real friends or a boyfriend or something stupid,” I mumble. “She says you and Phil are weird and YouTube isn't a job and she asked me why I like you and Phil.” I glance up at the screen. Dan isn't looking at the screen. He's looking down at his lap, biting his lip like he's thinking or contemplating something deeply.

“Y/N . . .” he mumbles, “if you don't want to hang out with us because of what your family thinks, that's—”

“Dan, shut up,” I interrupt. I know what he's trying to say and I know he doesn't want it, and I don't want it. “Daniel James Howell, I've known you for three years and Phil for like ten. You two are my best friends, if not my only friends. You introduced me to Louise, my only other friend. I'm not going to break that friendship between me and you and Phil just because you don't have a ‘real job’ or the fact that you're ‘weird’. I hope we never break our friendship. Got it?”

Dan's face lights up like the sun, happy that I care so much about him and Phil. When he's happy like this, he looks like what the Phangirls call ‘squishy’ ad what I call ‘so damn adorable’. But yes, I do understand what the Phangirls  mean when they call Dan ‘squishy’. When he's ‘squishy’, his dimples are so prominent. Each time he looks like that, he looks like he's having the most fun he's ever had, so I'm always proud to make him ‘squishy’. 

“Yeah, got it,” Dan says. Maybe it's the lighting, but his cheeks seem to glow a light pink. “I know it's not midnight for you yet, but can I stay up with you until it is? So I can wish you Merry Christmas? Phil has gone to sleep already, just so you know.”

I laugh and blush. “It'll be six in the morning for you by that time, Daniel. It's not really a good, healthy idea for you. You'll mess up  sleep schedule.”

Dan shrugs and says, “I don't mind. I'd stay as late as you need. Plus, I don't have many plans tomorrow until the evening. My best friends are all out of town except for Phil. You, Louise . . . I can sleep in if need.”

“Okay then, Howell.”

We stay up for hours, chatting about various things. We talk about my family, about his life without me and Phil. We talk about YouTube and memes. He seems to grow happier by the second. I often ask Dan a if he is tired, just in case he can't survive until six. He always answers that he was fine.

Eventually, it becomes eleven fifty-nine. Dan and I stare expectantly at the clock. Then, it becomes midnight. December twenty-fifth. Christmas. Dan smiles and puts his hand on the screen.

“Merry Christmas, Y/N.”

I put my hand on the screen so that it is over where his hand is, and we're virtually palm to palm. “Merry Christmas, Dan. Now go to bed, you silly Bear. See you in two days when I come home.”

When Dan's gone, I'm still not tired. I think about all those times Dan and Phil and I were separated. Their tour, basically every Christmas, every YouTube convention, most holidays. The lyrics to I Hate Love run through my head. I hate goodbyes / I hate these tears in my eyes / I hate myself for the way I feel about you every time.


End file.
